Xmen Unlimited
by Evy Sevin
Summary: This is the first chapter in my X-men Unlimited Universe. It stars Iceman, Magma, and Pyro. Please Review!


x-men

Fire & Ice

Bobby awoke with a start. Sweat beaded on his head and all over his body. He automatically went into cold mode and the sweat turned into small beads of ice. He brushed them off and looked around to see what had startled him out of his slumber. His room was small, but it was dark. After so may adventures where the impossible seemed to happen on a daily basis monsters in the shadows of his room didn't seem too improbable.

He used the moisture in the air, after his sweaty sleep there was plenty, to extend a long wand of ice from his finger and flip the light switch that was beside the door. His lamp would have just caused more shadows. Light flooded the room and he somewhat sheepishly glanced about again to be sure nothing was there. Of course there was nothing, his room lay about in its usual messy state.

He opened his mouth and mist came from it as if it were as cold as a winter's night. The cold came from within. After his unfruitful sleep and his excessive sweating he found himself parched.

He tried not to use the moisture within him to fuel his ice tricks, but sometimes he did so when he wasn't concentrating. It was dangerous to do so; he could become completely dehydrated in seconds. He ran his hands through his short mouse brown hair. As long as he was up he might as well get a drink. He flipped the covers off his body and sat up. He was in his boxers, he couldn't sleep in anything more.

He supposed he had better save the rest of the mansion's residents any embarrassment and put on a bathrobe. It hung, practically unused, on the back side of his bathroom door. It was blue and had the X symbol sewn in white thread above his heart. Xavier was funny about marking everything. Perhaps some earlier student had had a problem with sticky fingers.

He opened the door to his room and looked out in the hall. For some inexplicable reason he felt like a kid sneaking out of the house. He didn't understand why, after all he was just going down to get a glass of water. It was dark in the hallway, despite a few small built-in nightlights that were on whenever the lights went out. Xavier sure was a stickler for safety for someone that sent his students on suicide missions. Then again no one had ever died, at least not that Bobby had ever been aware of.

He followed the long hallway that made up the single males' corridor. He passed Hank's room and Kurt's. Peter's room was right next to the stairwell. Bobby proceeded on down the stairs as quietly as possible. He didn't want to wake anyone. Mostly because he didn't want to tell them he had been having nightmares.

He found the kitchen easily enough. He had been at the mansion for several years now after all. It was dark; there were no built-in nightlights here. He walked over to the fridge and opened it up. He could feel its cool air wash over him. It felt kind of nice, though he could generate much cooler temperatures if he wanted to. It was nice not having to do it himself.

He stared in the fridge for a moment, trying to spot something that sparked his interest. He eventually just reached for a bottle of purified water. He made his hand go cold as he grabbed it, making it even colder than the fridge could. He pulled it out and closed the door.

"Unable to sleep?" the voice startled him and he looked over to see his mentor, Professor Charles Xavier, sitting in his wheelchair. The bald man was parked in the doorway, looking at him in interest.

"Why else would I be down here," Bobby asked.

"I see that your lack of sleep has gotten to your temper finally," Xavier remarked offhandedly.

"Sorry," Bobby managed. He didn't actually mean disrespect to the professor, especially after all the man had done for him, but he had been feeling on edge for several days now.

"Do not worry," Professor Xavier told him. "We can all tell you haven't been getting much sleep as of late."

"Really?" Bobby was surprised. He thought he had been pretty good at keeping his little secret.

"I was thinking that perhaps it's time you took a small break," Professor Xavier smiled at him.

Bobby didn't know what to say. He appreciated the Professor's generosity, but he really had no where to go. "You know, I'm grateful but I'm not really sure that that's the best idea."

"Well," the Professor frowned. "That really would be too bad. I would have wasted my money on these two tickets to Hawaii." The Professor brandished two plane tickets held in his hand.

"Who is the other ticket for?" Bobby asked.

"Whoever you want to bring along," the Professor shrugged. "The hotel is already booked as well. What a shame."

Bobby grimaced as the Professor turned his chair around and began to slowly wheel himself away. "Wait!" He hated to rise to such obvious bait, but the Professor wasn't stupid and he knew so.

"Yes?"  
"What is it that you want me to do?"

The Professor turned around. "The only thing I want you to do is get some rest, and possibly take John off my hands."

John. That was why there were two tickets, though the Professor had said "possibly". Still, John and he got along pretty well. It was just that John always seemed to find trouble like Magneto found metal. It was a responsibility, but what kind of trouble could they get in staying in Hawaii?

"Alright," Bobby conceded. "John and I will go to Hawaii."

"I thought you might appreciate the rest," Professor Xavier smiled. "You better get ready, your plane leaves in seven hours."

Detective Valentino flicked his cigarette away. He knew that smoking was a filthy habit and that it could be a big turn-off but he didn't care. He smoked to piss people off and it worked. He especially liked it when his habit got to those fake tourists with their tanning bed skin tone and their "Hawaiian shirts" made in China.

His partner sat in the patrol car waiting for him to finish smoking his cigarette. Valentino took one long last drag and then dropped the butt, stomping on it and headed back toward the waiting car. Suddenly he felt dizzy.

"Shit!" he cursed. He planted his feet further apart to try and stay stable. "Not again!" Small earthquakes had been plaguing the big island for several weeks now and they only seemed to be getting worse.

Despite his efforts he fell onto his posterior. He rolled as the earth heaved underneath him. He cursed again. He hoped that, like the others he had experienced recently, this one would end quickly. He heard a strange cracking and grinding noise and then it all suddenly calmed. Grumbling, he rose to his feet, though it seemed the world was still spinning.

Cursing all the while he dusted himself off as he opened the patrol car door and sat down in the driver's seat. The funny thing about these earthquakes is that the focal points were nowhere near any fault points or volcanic activity. They also seemed to have no pattern. They were completely random. There was no warning, no slight trembles before. There was also never any aftermath. Though what was most troublesome was that magma seemed to always be bubbling up at the focal point.

Detective Valentino and his partner, Detective Lani, had been saddled with working on them. It normally wouldn't have been considered police work, but mutant involvement was suspected. Valentino and Lani had brought down mutants before, more than anyone else on the force could say.

"Somehow we are going to get blamed for this," Lani noted. Valentino could only nod in agreement.

"We need to find proof that some mutant isn't doing this," Valentino finally said once he found he could speak again.

"You don't think that a mutant is causing this?" Lani asked in surprise.

"I think that one is," Valentino corrected. "But do you want to go head to head with a mutant that can make lava come up from the ground and shake the entire big island?"

"I see," Lani looked at her partner. "Then let's go get some evidence." The pair drove away in their toned down patrol car.

"Why do you think that the Professor is sending us to Hawaii?" John asked for the fifth time as they stood waiting to get through the airport security. Before they had tightened security on carry-on luggage Bobby used to just take a single carry-on bag, but now most of things were off in a bag somewhere being handled by underpaid and overworked people below him.

"He thinks it will help me sleep," Bobby answered.

"With him there is always a second motive," John implied cynically.

Bobby was glad John wasn't a telepath. "Who knows? At least I know it's not Magneto."

"Yeah," John agreed. "He'd know better than pitting just the two of us against him."

They were silent as they were put through the screening process that seemed somehow rigorous and lame all at once. If some terrorist really wanted to he could hijack a plane. They gave you aluminum cans for God's sake. You could bring on a pen. Then there was the whole mutant argument.

"Could you come with me sir?" a security guard asked. Bobby's stomach clenched automatically, but he knew he hadn't brought anything illegal. "You have been chosen by our random process for a second screening."

"Of course," Bobby tried to stay calm. If this man found out he was a mutant all he had to do was plant something in Bobby's carryon. Bobby had heard of it happening before and doubted that the man was above doing just that. He sweat a little as he followed the security guard to a somewhat secluded area. This time he concentrated so that he wouldn't go into freeze mode. He lifted his arms complacently and let himself be scanned by the wand.

The man then turned and dug through his carryon. Bobby watched the security guard shouldn't find anything suspicious in there. The man searched hard, almost as if he wished that he would find something. After a few moments and a couple dirty looks from his co-workers the guard was forced to let Bobby move on.

"Come on Bobby!" John practically shouted. The blond-haired Californian was waiting for him not far past security. "What took you so long?"

"I had to get through extra security," Bobby explained.

"We only have fifteen minutes to catch our plane!" John groused. The two took off at a jog. They had been in the airport several times so they knew pretty much where they were going. They raced past at least seventeen more gates before they arrived at the gate printed on their tickets.

The lady at the ticket counter looked at them with her mouth pursed in an unpleasant frown. They offered their tickets and she scanned them skeptically. After a moment she handed them back.

"I'm afraid we've overbooked that class," she frowned even deeper at them.

Bobby could almost feel John tense up for a tirade. The last thing they needed nowadays with the reputation that the mutants were receiving and the lax laws was a fight at the airport. They could be held as terrorists and tortured and have all their rights removed.

"We'll have to bump you up to business class," the woman smiled. It was as if her entire face and suddenly changed, from a stern bitter old woman to a kind loving grandmother in just one smile.

Thank you," Bobby smiled at her appreciatively. "That will make the long flight much nicer."

"My pleasure," she stepped out from behind the counter and guided them to the gate. The two young x-men raced along behind her, dragging their carry-on luggage behind them. They were on their way.

"Let me get this right," Doctor Stewart looked at the two detectives skeptically. "You want me to help the pair of you, fool your boss into thinking that this was really a natural event?"

"Well," Detective Valentino shrugged. "I wouldn't put it that way, but I think you got the gist of it."

They had come to Doctor Stewart's office looking for help. They stood in the large hospital white office. Doctor Stewart had a nice mahogany desk that he stood behind now. Detective Valentino was standing in front of one of the two chairs placed before the desk. Detective Lani stood back by the door. Valentino wanted to make sure no one overheard their conversation.

"Impossible."

"What?" Detective Valentino managed to sound outraged, as if he were asking a simple favor. "Why?"

"There are so many reasons I shouldn't even tell you any, but I'll let you in on a little secret," Doctor Stewart sighed. After years of working with the Police as a geologist and a mortician he was used to Detective Valentino's antics. "I just spoke with Commissioner Carey and let him know that I knew beyond a doubt that these earthquakes are not natural."

"Christ!" Detective Lani groaned. She had long ago given up on trying to talk Valentino out of his crazier schemes. She had actually hoped that this one of all of them would work.

"Normally you don't try getting out of your work," Doctor Stewart noted. "What has your panties in a twist over this one?"

"If it really is a mutant," Valentino explained, his voice making it quite obvious he was using his last reserves of patience to explain this one. "Then I have to go up against something impossibly powerful."

"Then just solve who it is and make the Carey deal with the rest," Doctor Stewart suggested. "Didn't you bring down a mutant before?"

"Yeah, well, a mutant that can jump really high is on a whole other level than a mutant who could possibly sink the entire island," Valentino grumped. He pulled out a cigarette from his pocket, but knew better than to light it with Stewart in the room. Then the weirdo would tell his boss what he had tried to do.

"I see what you mean," Stewart acquiesced "Then you should probably stick to my original suggestion."

"Doctor Stewart," Detective Valentino began. "What kind of weirdo becomes a geologist and a mortician?"

Stewart sighed; they had already been through this at least a dozen times. "I was always interested in the dead and what had happened to them. Moving on to geology was natural because I was interested in what happened to the dead after we buried them, and what had happened to all those that had died before."

"You're sick, doc," Valentino grunted at him. With that the detective turned and left sullenly out the office door.

Allison looked haggard, and who could blame her after the last couple weeks? Things had been getting steadily worse. She was getting headaches and they wouldn't go away until something awful happened. Her jeans were looking a bit dirty and on her shirt was a small stain of blood.

She was trying to blend in with the tourists. She didn't look like most of the natives on Hawaii. Many of them were at least partially of Hawaiian descent, and those that weren't had a well-tanned look about them that made it obvious they were used to the year round sun.

Allison couldn't remember where she was from. Her earliest memory was of a headache and the sudden release during one of the earthquakes that had begun to shake the entire island. It was obvious to her that she wasn't a native. Her hair was a rich strawberry blonde and her skin was pale, it never seemed to tan. She had burned several times but when she looked down at her hand it looked almost as white as if she had come out of some sort of isolation.

She looked about to see if there was anyone that looked like her. If she had come here with her family then they should be looking for her frantically. Her English had a slight accent to it that no one seemed to be able to place. She had asked several people to guess in hopes that they would at least be able to give her an idea of where she came from. They always decided in the end that she must be British though they always seemed to include "that wasn't quite right either".

She had spent days looking at wanted and missing posters and hanging about the police in hopes that one would suddenly recognize her as 'that missing girl' or something. Not knowing was driving her insane and probably what was causing her all these nasty headaches.

Allison caught a flash of red hair and pushed her way through the crowd until she spotted a little girl glancing about at all the pretty things on display for way too much money. She slipped past several men in Hawaiian shirts that stunk of sweat and too much alcohol.

She approached the little girl, "Hi," she said as friendly as possible. Maybe the little girl was her sister or a cousin or something.

The little girl looked up at her, wrinkling her little freckled nose and began babbling to her in some language Allison wasn't even remotely familiar with. Allison smiled, nodded and then made her way disappointedly along.

Where did she come from? Why was no one looking for her? The only thing that made sense was that she was an orphan. She hoped it wasn't that. She might spend the entire rest of her life not knowing who she was or where she had come from. It was a fate worse than death in her opinion.

"Who am I?" she mumbled aloud.

"Excuse me?" a voice to her right suddenly interrupted her reverie. "Did you just ask me who you are?"

She looked over to a kindly looking bent old woman dressed in a long dress that was much too thick for the Hawaiian heat. "I'm sorry," she managed after a second. "I didn't mean to bother you."

"Not at all child," the woman smiled at her kindly. "I even happen to know the answer to your question."

"You do?" Allison's face light up and she clasped the woman's hands eagerly awaiting the answer.

"Why yes," the woman answered her. "You are a daughter of God."

"Oh," Allison tried not to sound disappointed. "That wasn't really . . ."

"You look like you could use a nice hot bath and some food," the woman interrupted her.

"That does sound nice," Allison hesitated.

"Come with me, child, we'll get you all cleaned up and fill your belly with some nice food," the woman grasped her hand with surprising strength and began to lead her through the crowd. Allison looked desperately around her to make sure she wasn't missing anyone that looked like they could be her family. The old woman had her moving along before she could get a good glance.

By the time the plane made contact with the runway Bobby was sore everywhere on his body. At least he hadn't been forced to ride in coach. He had gone back there while he was taking a walk. It had been bright and he had seen the people sweating and suffering back there. Several babies were wailing as the rest of the people tried to sleep in their tight little seats that were stuck in a practically upright position. The light poured in from some windows that rude passengers refused to pull down the shade on. Their meals were small and meager.

John had slept most of the time in the business class seats. The seats were wider and leaned back much further. The blankets that they received were thicker than construction paper, unlike the blankets in coach class. Their meal was quite nice, though he had burned with envy when he saw what first class was being served. Still, the price for those tickets was insane, gourmet steak meal or not.

Bobby nudged John awake as they began to descend. John looked at him with red eyes questioningly. "Welcome to Hawaii! Please place your seats in the upright position as we descend, and return all trays and utensils at this time."

In business class on Adventure Airlines they gave you real metal utensils. Just another reason the whole security screening process was truly a waste of everyone's time and resources. John slowly placed his seat up and tossed his blanket and pillow into the seat across from them so that the "aisle donkeys" as he called them could retrieve them. Bobby shook his head in disapproval.

"I can't believe we're actually going to Hawaii," John was giddy, but still waking up, his voice cracked.

"Me either," Bobby agreed. Though he was excited he couldn't help but wonder why the Professor had gone through so much just to rid himself of John for a week. Things just didn't add up.

John did his best to straighten his now messy blonde hair, "I am so getting laid on this trip!"

"Is that all you ever think about?" Bobby asked.

"I'm twenty-two. What else am I supposed to be thinking about?" John asked with a smirk.

"How about some nice relaxation and maybe some snorkeling too?" Bobby retorted.

The plane turned as it descended and John got just a bit pale. Bobby wanted to smirk himself at the sight. It was rare to see John out of his element, but the hot-headed young mutant never was much of a flyer.

"Why didn't the Professor just have us dropped off in the Blackbird? It would have been a lot quicker," John asked.

"The price of the fuel would have cost over ten times the price of these tickets. And the X-men can't be without their plane for long," Bobby shook his head at John. Sometimes John asked the dumbest questions. When they had first met Bobby had thought John rather stupid, but then he had read some of the fire-controlling mutant's writings.

What truly went on in John's mind was something that only John knew, and maybe the professor. Bobby sometimes wondered if the Professor was truly controlling them all to do his will, to fight for his cause. He hoped not. He doubted it. If the Professor truly was controlling them all he was doing a bad job with all these little doubts that cropped up.

The descent and landing was pretty uneventful despite a few bumps and a small bit of shaking. John was gripping the seat handles and grimacing as his became paler and paler. Bobby wanted to laugh, but no matter how bad he wanted to he couldn't bring himself to be mean to another mutant, or human for that matter.

"You'd think we went through a hurricane," John groused once they had stopped at the gate.

"It wasn't bad at all," Bobby countered. He unbuckled and began to pull his carryon from the overhead storage. Being business class passengers they were able to get off before any of the other passengers, aside first class that is.

"Whatever," John frowned grumpily. His face was a faint shade of green, but it was improving quickly.

They walked out the walkway and were quick to note the change in humidity and temperature. When they came out a woman standing by the doorway smiled at them with a wreath of flowers in her hand.

"Welcome to Hawaii, we hope you enjoy your stay!" she was smiling wide, but it didn't reach her eyes. She took the flowers and placed them over Bobby's head. John looked as if he was going to laugh at Bobby until he suddenly found a wreath of red flowers around his neck to match.

"It's a lei," Bobby explained.

"Dude! I just got laid!" John grinned with satisfaction. "And I've only been her a few seconds!"

"Real original there John," Bobby shook his head and made his way toward the main terminal.

Once in the main terminal they had expected to find a taxi and take it to the hotel that Professor had arranged for them to stay in. Instead they found an Asian man dressed in a full suit holding a sign over his head. The sign had both their names written on it. John looked at skeptically at Bobby.

"Are you sure the old man's not trying to get anything out of us on this trip?" John asked.

"If he does, he definitely didn't tell me anything about it," Bobby responded, lying once again.

John grinned stupidly, "Alright then! Let's get to the hotel. I am ready to fall asleep!"

Bobby himself felt the effects of jetlag. It was the middle of the night in New York, but here it was late morning. At least John had caught a little bit of a nap on the plane ride.

"Are you Robert Drake and St. John Allerdyce?" the Asian man asked them with a big grin.

"St. John?" Bobby turned with a smirk to his blonde friend.

"Don't say anything!" John growled lowly.

"Yes," Bobby confirmed, barely containing a grin. He had known John for several years now and hadn't been aware of his true name.

"I swear the old man is going to hear about this when we get home!" John's face was flushed.

"Relax," Bobby grinned. "No one heard your name but me, Saint."

"Shut up!" John growled a bit louder. "Or I swear I will melt you into a puddle, Frosty!"

"Alright," Bobby put his hands up as the man grabbed his luggage. "Relax, John, we're on vacation after all."

"If I ever hear any of the others say my name I'll know who it was that leaked it," John pointed an accusatory finger.

"Fair enough," Bobby grinned and followed their limo driver out the glass doors to a long stretch limo that awaited them. He opened the door, letting them both in before putting their luggage into the trunk.

"This is nice," Bobby appreciated feeling the leather under his hands. The inside was even more spacious than he had imagined. A small LCD television was on for them, but silent. The remote was stuck to it with Velcro. There was a small refrigerator filled with soda and bottled water.

Bobby's family was well off, but they had never traveled in such style. He knew that this was the first time John was in a limo as well. For once the Californian surfer boy was left speechless.

It didn't last. "I could get used to this," John grinned, leaning against the large leather seat. The windows were tinted so that they could see out but no one could see in. John stuck his middle finger at some passerby and laughed. Bobby just rolled his eyes at his traveling companion.

"That's really enjoying luxury," Bobby said sarcastically. The window between the pair and the driver began to come down. John quickly let his middle finger down and blushed guiltily.

"Would you like to stop somewhere before arriving at the hotel?" the man in the driver's seat asked. He had a funny accent that Bobby couldn't quite place. It sounded eastern European.

"I don't think so," Bobby told the man.

"Can we get lighters at the hotel?" John asked.

"Of course," the man responded. "Though the hotel does enforce a strict no smoking policy."

"Oh," John replied nonchalantly. "I don't smoke."

"Of course not, sir," the man said as he began to roll the window. From the sound of his voice he didn't believe John at all.

"Already making impressions," Bobby frowned at John. John was a magnet for trouble and Bobby was hoping to have a nice quiet vacation, without any trouble from John or anyone else.

"I can't help but impress," John smirked, grabbing for the remote.

"Police and scientists are hoping that the latest in a series of increasingly violent earthquakes will be the last," an announcer proclaimed on the television set. John quickly changed the channel.

Normally Bobby's curiosity would have been piqued, but he was tired and could only think of a nice cool bed. Already the heat here had begun to affect the x-man, though the moisture in the air would make him doubly effective, despite the intense tropical heat.

John got excited when he caught a glimpse of the pristine beach and the hotties that were strolling along the shores. Bobby was too tired to get excited but hoped that the girls would be sufficient distraction for John, though Bobby was going to have to monitor that as well. The more he thought about it the more Bobby realized that no trip was a true vacation with John along. Bobby sighed and gave up inside, there really was never any rest for an x-man.

"What's the matter?" John asked, sounding truly concerned for once. "Afraid I'll take all the babes?"

"No," Bobby retorted shortly. "I'm worried about you getting us into some sort of trouble I can't get us out of."

"Relax," John reassured. "This is vacationland. How much trouble can one guy get into?"

"I'm sure you'll find out," Bobby closed his eyes as the limo drove on through the city. He could feel each turn that the limo made and memorized them just in case he ever got lost.

"Have a little faith, Bobby," John actually sounded hurt.

"Sorry," Bobby apologized. "I'm just tired and need to get some rest. I didn't sleep on the plane ride over."

Bobby closed his eyes and the next thing he knew John was nudging him awake. "I think we're here."

Bobby blinked his eyes rapidly and rubbed his face. He looked out the window to see a swank hotel with staff buzzing all about trying to accommodate all of the demanding guests. The entry room was stunning with its gold and whitewashed wood. Bobby quickly tried to pat his hair down.

"Nice," John smiled as one of the greeting boys opened the car door for them. "I think I could like it here."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Bobby mumbled to himself.

They clambered out of the car and joined the driver at the rear bumper. The eastern European man removed their luggage and before he could pass them on a bellboy in a traditional red and gold uniform quickly grabbed them up and placed them on a luggage cart. John grinned even wider.

Bobby tried to ignore his friend's glee at having someone serve him. He rushed up to the service desk.

"Do you have a reservation?" the man behind the opulent mahogany desk asked politely.

"Yes," Bobby responded keeping the corner of one eye on John. "It is under the name Robert Drake."

"Could I please see some identification?" the man asked holding out a hand. Bobby handed the man his driver's license. The man glanced at it and then typed something in the keyboard.

"A suite with two queen-size beds?" the man verified. "Is there anything that you require before retiring?"

"No," Bobby smiled warmly. The man handed him his license back along with two key cards. The bellboy led them with his cart of their luggage toward a pair of golden elevators.

That was when the earthquake struck.

Bobby suddenly felt ill. His body was nearly overcome by vertigo. He looked up to see if they were under some strange telepathic attack. He noticed the chandelier shook, causing the crystals to clang together. He wasn't the only one who noticed, a couple of the older guests shrieked.

The shaking grew worse and Bobby fell to his knees. John somehow stayed on his feet. Maybe his life in California had accustomed to the motions of the earthquakes. A bit of dust fell from below. Some of the other guests fell over onto their backs and sides. Somewhere a child cried.

Just as suddenly as it had begun it was over. Bobby cautiously rose back onto his feet, glancing about to make sure no one was hurt. People were helping their loved ones up. Some of the staff seemed irritated, but none of them were overly surprised. Bobby wanted to know why.

"What was that?" Bobby feigned ignorance.

"It was an earthquake," his bellboy told him.

"I didn't know you had many of them here," Bobby straightened his clothes as best he could.

"We have had a rash of them as of late," the Hawaiian native told him, beginning to push the cart again.

"Really?" Bobby was truly concerned. "Is a volcano getting ready to go off or something?"

"No," the bellboy shook his head and glanced about conspiratorially. "Our geologists already checked it out. Word among the natives is that a mutant is causing the tremors."

John didn't even wait for Bobby to respond, "Don't you dare! We are on vacation!"

Allison had followed the bent old lady to a nice house in the suburbs. Allison had hated to leave the city and the beach, it was like admitting there was no hope of ever finding her family, or whoever it was that had brought her here. She was so hungry and alone that she couldn't resist the temptation of food and human company. It was sad, really, that she was in such a state.

"Let's get some nice hot food in you," the woman told her. "Then we'll settle you into a soothing bath."

"I really can't thank you enough," Allison told the woman. "You've done so much and you don't even know me."

"Pish Posh," said the old woman. "I know you plenty well. You are a daughter of God."

Allison didn't know what else to say. If God was her father then he certainly hadn't taking very good care of her lately. She kept her mouth shut, she was just grateful for the company.

Allison had some sort of fish soup that she didn't like very much, but it filled her empty stomach. At least it wouldn't be growling at her anymore like a savage beast hunting prey.

"There now," the woman said kindly, patting her on the shoulder. "Doesn't that feel so much better? You sip your coconut juice while I prepare you bath."

As Allison sat there she could hear the old woman run her water. Though the old thing might be slightly crazy and a bit too preachy for her she was grateful. Allison just wished she would quit mentioning God so often it was getting more and more difficult to bite her tongue.

"Almost ready," the old woman tottered in with a wide smile on her face. She had more wrinkles on her face that the ocean had waves. Somehow Allison found them comforting.

"I really just wanted to thank you again," Allison told her. "If it wasn't for you I'd still be wandering the streets searching for a family I don't even remember."

"It's quite alright," the woman told her with a wave of her hand. "Helping people like you has its own reward."

"Really?" Allison regretted asking the question as soon as it slipped out of her mouth.

"Of course, dear," the old woman walked into the unseen bathroom and stopped the tap then returned. "God rewards those who serve their fellow man or fellow woman in our case."

"Of course," Allison said, silently begging for the woman to just show her to the bath.

"If you'll just follow me I'll take you to the bathtub," the woman turned once more and walked down the hall. Allison took one last sip of the coconut juice and followed the woman.

The bathroom was steaming. The bathtub looked more like a Jacuzzi. It was tall and made of plastic surrounded by wood. Allison looked at it and realized how long it had been since she had taken a real bath. With that thought running through her head it suddenly felt as is she was the dirtiest person on the entire island.

"Let me just get you a towel," the woman told her and walked out of the room. Allison sighed in relief. Quickly, she stripped her clothes off, hoping she could get in the tub before the strange Christian woman came back. She saw movement out of the corner of her eye and startled.

"Oh," she felt silly. It was nothing more than a large mirror over the sink on the other side of the room. It was her reflection that she had seen. She looked at herself before stepping into the tub.

She was an attractive young woman, with long strawberry blond hair that reached down to the middle of her back and very large blue eyes. Her breasts were somewhat small but perky and well-shaped. It seems she was used to physical exercise as her muscles were well toned.

Finally, still looking at herself, hoping that her reflection would jog some sort of memory from her addled brain, she stepped into the bathtub. Then, it happened again. The bath water was hot and she flinched at it, suddenly she saw her eyes glow yellow and her hair began to glow red.

Suddenly the house began to tremble just as the old woman stepped into the bathroom. A look of horror overcame the old woman's face as Allison lost her mind. The ground shook even harder.

"Devil worshipper!" the woman screeched throwing the towel at Allison's face. "You are a devil-spawned mutant! Get out!"

Allison let the towel hit her in the face and then fall into the hot water of the bathtub as it splashed up over the side. She felt as if she was outside her own body looking in on the situation. Slowly her leg came out of the hot water as the ground trembled once more.

"I don't want your kind under my roof!" the woman screeched at her, but backed away.

Allison looked at her with glowing yellow eyes, no emotion showing on her face. Still naked, Allison walked toward the old woman who shrank back from her presence. Allison walked past her and continued down the hallway as if in a trance, the whole house shook once again.

Allison opened the door and left the house as the earth heaved at her unbidden command. Cracks in earth appeared out from under the house and raced up to her, lava flowing out of them. If the few people walking about hadn't been ducking for their lives they would have noticed the naked young girl.

Lava bubbled up from the Earth's crust and made contact with her body. Instead of scorching her it slid over her form, coating her like a scuba suit. Her hair now flashing golden and orange danced about as if it were a fire. She continued on, leaving the old woman's yard and walking down the street.

The ground suddenly stopped and the lava fell in cooling chunks from Allison's body. She looked about, realizing that she was naked and in the middle of the street. Before anyone could notice her she ducked into someone's yard, panting.

"Not again," she moaned to herself. There was nothing she could do now and so she glanced about, looking for something to cover herself with. It was back to living on the streets for her.


End file.
